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When Sharhea Wade arrived at Bryn Mawr
College from a big-city high school, it seemed as if every other
student on the quiet, leafy campus had graduated from an exclusive
private school.


      "I felt intimidated by them," recalled Wade. "Bryn Mawr is a
different world."


      Yet whenever she felt like a fish out of water, Wade could turn
to her "posse" - nine other girls who, like her, had been
recruited from struggling Boston-area school districts and sent on
full merit scholarship to the elite women's college.


      Wade's posse is one of dozens sent to top-tier universities each
year by the New York-based Posse Foundation. The combination of
monetary and social support is a model that experts say could help
move the U.S. toward President Barack Obama's goal of having
America lead the world in the percentage of college graduates by
2020. Next fall, the program hits the Ivy League when it debuts at
Penn.

      So far, Obama's focus has been on increasing access to higher
education - especially for minority and low-income students -
through expanded Pell grants and simplified financial aid
applications.


      But paying for college is only part of the battle. Keeping
students in school by supporting their psychological and academic
needs is equally important, said Laura Perna, an associate
professor in the University of Pennsylvania's Graduate School of
Education.


      Posse founder Deborah Bial started the organization in 1989
after a once-promising inner-city student told her, "I never would
have dropped out of college if I had my posse with me."

      Since then, Posse has sent more than 2,600 students to its
partner campuses, including Vanderbilt University, Colby College
and the University of California at Berkeley.

      The program targets students in disadvantaged urban districts
who have strong leadership skills but may lack the guidance to wade
into what can be an intimidating college admissions process. Posse
is not need- or minority-based, though many students fit both
categories.


      The demand for such help is dramatic, Bial said. Posse, which
had been recruiting from six major cities, added Miami as its
seventh this fall. The program received more than 12,000
nominations this year for 460 slots nationwide, Bial said.

      Posse provides academic support and help with college
applications, but admission decisions are made by individual
schools, which offer full merit scholarships. A University of
Missouri study presented last week links merit aid to increased
freshman year grade-point averages, particularly for minority and
low-income students.


      Students headed to the same universities are placed in posses of
about 10 that begin meeting in high school. The meetings continue
weekly at college, creating tight-knit groups where members can
find motivation or comfort when they feel lost or frustrated.


      "I have this incredible sense that I can succeed and take on
whatever I want at school because I have this intensely supportive
network behind me who believes in my potential," said Augusta
Irele, 21, a member of Wade's posse at Bryn Mawr.


      Research shows that integration into a community is important
for college retention, Perna said. Having a posse of peers with
similar backgrounds creates a bridge to the new institutional
climate while helping maintain relationships at home, she said.


      Matt Rivera, 20, said his posse helped him and other members
through the culture shock of leaving their Chicago-area homes for
selective DePauw University, set amid cornfields in Greencastle,
Ind.


      "Everyone calls it a bubble," said Rivera, a junior. "There's
nothing for 45 miles."


      Some Posse scholars say their presence has spurred some
uncomfortable but needed conversations about race and class on
campus. Jenny Rickard, a Bryn Mawr administrator and Posse liaison,
said the program has been mutually enriching for the school and the
students.


      "The scholars have really energized the environment at Bryn
Mawr, really creating a culture that is more inclusive," Rickard
said.


      Both DePauw and Bryn Mawr say Posse students are active campus
leaders and have graduation rates on par with or higher than that
of the general student body. Overall, Posse officials say their
students have a 90 percent graduation rate, compared with a 58
percent rate nationwide for bachelor's degrees within six years.


      Bial, whose work with Posse earned her a $500,000 MacArthur
Foundation "genius grant" in 2007, said the ultimate goal is for
scholars to take their diplomas from the Main Streets of college
towns to the boardrooms of Wall Street and beyond.


      "We're creating a new kind of leadership network in the United
States," said Bial. "It's not a good-old-boys network, it's not
the Greek system. You've got young people who represent the real
diversity of this country."

Gallery

Education News

When Sharhea Wade arrived at Bryn Mawr
College from a big-city high school, it seemed as if every other
student on the quiet, leafy campus had graduated from an exclusive
private school.


College scholarship winners struggle to fit in

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